Originally posted by Huge Presser

Quick question: How has your strength progressed so far (bench press specifically). I can't remember where you started in any of your lifts and I'd like to hear a little about how you've progressed.
Well, in terms of hitting 325, that lift is actually BELOW my "natural" max of several months back. However, during this time, I was using westside training and westside training alone, so i was quite literally training soelely for strength at the the time...so that 335 wasn't exactly an accurate barometer from which to gauge my strength. That being said, I'm perplexed as to why my bench didn't make a big jump, as my shoulders and tris have made leaps and bounds over the last few weeks in terms of strength. That one has really got me wondering. One of the reasons I went after 345 without any hesitation is that my tricep strength has just literally exploded, so I saw no real reason why my bench wouldn't have made a corresponding jump...which it did not. I believe it has much to do with the fact tha 1RM's are, imo, as much a function of CNS conditioning as they are muscular strength (relative to the individual of course), and I didn't do any 1RM or even 3RM training in the months leading up to this event. I suspect if I took 275 and repped out with it, there would be dramatic improvement over the number of reps i was able to get pre-AAS....for me anyway, the mix i'm on just might not be affecting 1RM strength, which is fine by me, as I'm getting the results in all the other areas I consider paramount.